The ruling BJP is locked in a tight contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling JJP for the 90 assembly seats that will go to polls in Haryana on Monday.

While the Congress is hoping to make a comeback following the change in guard in the State, the BJP has set a target to bag at least 75 seats in the contest in which 1,169 candidates of various political outfits are in the fray.

Currently, the BJP has 48 members in the 90-member state assembly.

The Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), is also hoping for an improvement in its prospects following the Lok Sabha debacle.

The party had emerged on the scene following a feud in the Chautala clan in Decamber last year.

Polling stations

The polling will be held at 19,578 stations from 7 am to 6 pm, Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, Anurag Agarwal, said.

Tight security arrangements have been made and over 75,000 security personnel have been mobilised for the polls, DGP Manoj Yadava said on Saturday.

Over 1.83 crore voters, including 85 lakh women and 252 transgenders, are eligible to vote.

As many as 27,611 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used for the assembly elections.

Main contest

The main contest is seen among the BJP, Congress and the JJP.

However, Chief Minister Khattar claimed that the opposition was in “disarray” and the BJP had no direct contest with any party.

The BSP, AAP, INLD-SAD combine, Swaraj India and the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) have thrown the hat into the ring, though none of them is fighting on all 90 seats.

In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP for the first time came to power in Haryana on its own strength.

During the poll campaigning, which came to an end on Saturday evening, the BJP made revoking provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and other issues surrounding nationalism a major poll plank.

The Congress, JJP, INLD, AAP, BSP and other opponents targeted the Khattar government over unemployment, economy, farmers distress and alleged scams including mining and cash-for-jobs scam and “deteriorating” law and order situation in the State.

Ahead of the polls, the BJP denied tickets to 12 of its sitting legislators, which included two ministers — Vipul Goel (Faridabad) and Rao Narbir Singh (Badshahpur).

Of the 12 legislators, Randhir Kapriwas turned rebel and entered the fray from Rewari.

The Congress retained its sitting legislators while the INLD saw its prominent faces switching over to the BJP, the Congress and the JJP. In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP had won 47 seats. It won the Jind bypolls earlier this year, taking its total strength in the state assembly to 48.

The INLD had 19 MLAs while the Congress has 17 legislators.

The BSP and the SAD had bagged one seat each in the last polls while five were Independents.

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